Both in power fold and manually foldable rear view mirror assemblies there are situations where the user folds the rear view mirror manually from a folded parking position to an operating driving position, and vice versa.
In the folded parking position the rear view mirror is not to be used, for example when the vehicle is parked or when it is being washed. In this position, the rear view mirror is arranged substantially along the vehicle.
In the operating driving position, the rear view mirror is to be used, for example when the vehicle is driven. In this position, the rear view mirror is arranged substantially transversely to the vehicle and projects therefrom.
When the rear view mirror of the vehicle is in said folded parking position, it is usually desired that the rear view mirror remains in said position, for example locked, and does not become unfolded to the operating driving position.
Although in many cases this can be avoided in power fold rear view mirror assemblies through the torque that is provided by the electrical actuator itself to allow a stable position where the rear view mirror assembly is held in the folded parking position, in manually operated rear view mirror assemblies this can not be easily ensured.
Documents WO2005079535 and EP1403140, for example, disclose rear view mirror assemblies for motor vehicles including a plurality of detent elements. In both cases, the detent elements only provide a single stable position when the rear view mirror is in the operating driving position.
There is thus still the need for a rear view mirror assembly that is capable of ensuring that the rear view mirror is held in a folded parking position unless the user really desires to arrange the rear view mirror in the operating driving position.